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Woman found dead; boyfriend jumps to death

10:30 PM EDT, June 1, 2008

Margaux Powers, 26, and her father, Mike pictured here at the 2007 French Open. Margaux Powers was found dead in her Manhattan apartment bathtub, on May 31, 2008. (Handout)

This story was reported by Pervaiz Shallwani and staff writers Erik German, Reid J. Epstein, Steve Ritea, and Patrick Whittle, and written by German.

Glen Cove native Margaux Powers moved to Manhattan to pursue a career in finance, but her life and those ambitions were extinguished this weekend by the man police said slashed her throat.

The 26-year-old's body was found around 6 p.m. Saturday in the bathtub of the Chelsea apartment that police said she shared with her boyfriend, Jonathan Smith, 34.

Police found an unsigned apology note in the apartment and said they suspect Smith killed Powers before leaping to his death several hours later from a building in Manhattan's financial district.

Smith apparently jumped from an upper floor of a building at 55 Exchange Pl., police said.

Police said it was unclear how long Powers had been dead before she was found.

Family and friends offered few details about Smith except that he had grown up in nearby Glen Head, had known the Powers family for years and had recently been laid off from the Manhattan restaurant where he'd worked as a chef.

The victim's father, Michael S. Powers, declined to speak to reporters at his Poppy Lane home in Glen Cove, but released a written statement saying the family is "completely devastated" by her loss.

"We were looking forward to watching her life continue to blossom," wrote Powers, the managing director of Lazard Asset Management in Manhattan. "But her future has been tragically cut short and we are overcome with grief."

Smith's stepmother, Mary Smith, was reached by phone at her Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., home where she lives with Smith's father, Baldwin. Mary Smith declined to discuss details of her stepson's yearlong relationship with Powers. "I think both families need time to just heal and be together," she said.

Family members said Margaux Powers and her father were very close, regularly taking trips together -- the two attended the 2007 French Open and recently returned from a vacation to China.

They spoke on the phone daily, family members said.

After she didn't call her family and failed to show up for work Friday, Powers' sister Dana visited the apartment at 235 W. 22nd St. Police said Dana left without checking the bathroom.

She returned on Saturday, escorted by Constantine Ionescu, 54, the building's doorman. This time they entered the bathroom, and drew back the shower curtain, revealing her sister's body.

Dana Power's anguished screams pierced the apartment's concrete walls, setting off a panic among neighbors.

Alicia Maleno, who lives down the hall, said she heard the commotion when she got home about 45 minutes after the body was discovered.

"Its very unsettling for this to happen to anyone, especially someone around my age," Maleno said.

One floor down, Sayre Maxfield said she'd seen fewer residents roaming the building's halls. "Everybody is freaked out," she said.

Powers and Smith moved into the seven-story building in April with her white Jack Russell terrier, Ionescu said.

Margaux Powers graduated from the elite Taft School in Connecticut, where she played on the varsity lacrosse team. She attended the University of Vermont for one year, where she also played lacrosse. She then transferred to Cornell University, where she graduated in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in English, family members said.

She was working as a portfolio assistant, an entry-level position at Estabrook Capital Management in Manhattan and planned to seek an MBA.

"She was just a great girl," said a family member who declined to be identified. "Just a happy, lovely, grounded, directed smart and funny girl who was great fun."